Thunderstone and Starter

An hour after the sunset of the previous night ...

Ghermiz's train of horses rode into Still Manor as the sun was setting. He and the men in his train were quickly taken into a large, empty room. On short notice, tables and benches were brought in. Very soon some women who were hired by the lord of Still Manor to prepare the great gathering brought in some bowls of fruit, shallow bowls of water for washing the hands, and a set of dice and some brass tokens. Soon Ghermiz's men were eating, gambling, and chatting with the women. After about an hour, Doazda quietly entered the room, and took Ghermiz aside.

"Welcome, friend, to Still Manor. It is an unexpected pleasure."

Ghermiz responded, "It is indeed unexpected. It is only of late that I have thought deeply about what you said during our last talk."

Doazda's face became blank, and he nodded his head slowly. "So, what are your thoughts?"

"There are certain things that have happened since we last talked that have added weight to your arguments. I still believe that there are problems with your, uh, cartel?"

"I call it a guild, but you can call it what you will."

"But, there is some merit to having a group gather from time to time to discuss problems which face all of us. Certainly I look forward to coming days."

"I am glad to see that you have changed your mind to that extent. I see that you have brought several of your fellows, and some goods for exhibtion and trade as well."

"As you had suggested. I did run into a couple of your men on the Old Frontier Road, headed for Darvazde Yepenhan, and we have heard some talk about a woman. Is there a problem from outside?"

"I do not know. Maybe not, but I am sending some men looking to make sure. One is a striking young woman with white hair, who is not Hespaniard. She came in south of Golabi, which is reason enough to be suspicious. Then she slipped out while the captain of the watch was deciding what to do with her."

"That is bad luck. So you think she went north? If she were a stranger, she would not dare go that way if she had any sense. The Petrona roads to the west of here are much easier."

"There is a larger posse heading along those roads. I am just covering a number of possibilities. The trouble is, she may have turned the head of a courier I use from time to time, and he knows his way around a number of tough trails. He is usually reliable, but very shy - stammers if someone starts to pay attention to him. I can see a charming girl talking him into things he normally would not do."

"Hesht."

Doazda arched is eyebrows for a second. He responded, "He gets around. Have you used him?"

"Um, yes. Is there a place we can talk discreetly?"

The two men were now alone, outside under a starry sky. Ghermiz started, "Doazda, I said that there are some things that have happened. You are familiar with Nozh?"

"Unfortunately, yes. He produces illegal thunderstone. He is not a friend to me or my point of view about where the business is going."

"I am going to tell you something that stays between us. Thunderstone is part of my line of work as well."

"Hmm. Well, I can see why you were not happy my idea of regulating thunderstone production. Not that I have anything against it in principle. But if the King gets word that we are making it, and it is not an old wives' tale, then that would be bad for business."

"Um. Well, yeah. I, uh, am hoping that I can work something out on that. See, there are a lot of things about thunderstone that even experienced men like yourselves don't know."

"Enlighten me."

"First of all, people just think thunderstone is a more powerful black powder. But all black powder is good for is producing smoke. Sure, if you could make it stable, it would be good for blowing holes in the sides of some mountain in Nom Galba, but get it wet, or expose it to fire, or if there is any lightning within a league, and you have a mess."

Ghermiz continued, "But thunderstone is different. If you set it on fire, it burns like wood, but doesn't do much more than that. If you get it wet, no problem."

"So how do you set it off?"

Ghermiz caught his breath, and hesitated. He was about to reveal the existence of a guarded trade secret. He would rather not have disclosed this, but if he wanted Doazda's help, he knew he would have to give him some of those details. Steeling himself, he continued, "Traditionally, one needs to hit the thunderstone hard with a heavy object. Say, throw down a big rock onto a brick-size stone buried in the earth. Some people try it the other way, by hurling the thunderstone from a height onto the ground, but I don't like to do that 'cause the blast is hard to predict. But I have found another way. It is a white fluid called starter. It doesn't take much. I fill a couple of holes that are drilled into some thunderstone with starter, and seal the holes with a light piece of sandstone. I like to keep it light so that it contrasts with the darker thunderstone. Then place the thunderstone in the place you want to make a big hole, and shoot an arrow from a longbow from a safe distance. A good archer can hit the light-coloured cap, which sets the starter off. Once the starter explodes, it has enough power to set off the thunderstone. It has great promise for mining."

"Not just mining," said Doazda. He was thinking about darker uses, like murdering someone by making a thunderstone-starter bombe and setting it off under someone's house. He expected a defense by Ghermiz of his new material, and was surprised to hear him say, "Can you imagine what would have happened if thunderstone and starter had existed during the Wars of Verboten Succession?"

"The kings and princes would not have stood for it. They would be destroying their own land."

"You have been to what was once east Franken?"

Doazda thought on this for a while. In the Wars of Verboten Succession, Franken was an independent duchy between Penhan and Torbus. The duke of Franken unwisely chose to ally against Hespan despite the fact that his lands were adjacent to it, thus guaranteeing that Franken would be one of the main fields of battle. Most of east Franken was incorporated into the Hespaniard province of the Tenge after the war. This land, which was once prosperous, had reverted to forests with burnt hulks of farms and villages with wild animals wandering through them. It was not hard to find bones of soldiers, farmers, and others who had died during that war. Yes, someone would have used thunderstone as an instrument of war. When Doazda finally replied, he used a well-known Hespaniard quote.

"Behold, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed."

Ghermiz nodded. He knew that Doazda was referring to the story of King Siroosh and his son. The story was well-known amongst Hespaniards.

One day the king told his son and heir that he had come of age, and it was time for him to obtain wisdom. The son was eager to please. The king told his son that the most valuable wisdom would come from his court, but his son must not only stay silent, but he also had to hide himself. His son agreed, and he hid behind a curtain while the king's courtiers were assembled for dinner. The son listened with great anticipation, but he was disappointed. He heard what he thought of as loyal and broadminded courtiers scheming and selling their honour for titles, trinkets, and pleasures that were ultimately of little value. He listened to the mages speaking in ponderous words, but when he thought on what they said, it was either unimportant or nonsense. The military men could talk about little more than war, and the merchants about little more than money. Disappointed, the youth thought he missed the wisdom. After the dinner, he told his father that he had failed, for he did not see what wisdom there was. The king replied, "As the King, there will be many who will want to walk with you and be your friend, for the good that you can do them. They will flatter you, impress you, and hold you in awe you with many pleasant or ponderous words. But ultimitely, few see much beyond their own noses. And yet, these very men of the court are your eyes, ears, and hands when you need to know the good and the bad that happens in the kingdom, and when you exercise the royal power in peace and war. Behold, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed."

Ghermiz then spoke in his turn, "Now Nozh, as you know, also works with thunderstone. I have been selling some of mine outside of Hespan. Doazda, before you say anything, it gets a much better price there, and I am very careful about where it goes. Strictly for mining. I do have some lines that I do not cross, believe me. But Nozh is not Hespaniard. And I am starting to wonder if there are any limits to what he thinks is right."

"Are you sure that you are not angry at him because he is a successful competitor?"

"Not at all. I think that there is room for more than one thunderstone producer. I can easily see us both becoming rich, and if being rich would wear off his rough edges, I think that would be good for everyone. But as you know, Nozh is proud and secretative. I do not know quite what he is up to, and what he really wants. But as I was saying earlier, I have a number of couriers that have been carrying thunderstone to special customers outside Hespan. There are two courier trails with caches to support the couriers getting the stone out of the kingdom. One went toward the Duchy of Torbus and the port of Petrona, and the other goes to Penhan. Nozh's men found the Petrona trail and stole from the caches. I had to close that down. But the trail to Darvazde Yepenhan that leads to Penhan is still open."

Doazda said, "Thank you for the information. I will send word tomorrow morning to our men going to Petrona. Some will travel as reinforcements by the Old Frontier Road to Darvazde Yepenhan. Perhaps we can catch them before they cross the frontier. Even if they do cross, they can possibly be pursuaded, or forced, to come back."

1. Forward to the next day, when Hesht discovers that something is missing from the third cache.
2. Forward to the next day, amongst the posse headed toward Petrona.
3. Forward to the next day, to the two men that were dispatched to Darvazde Yepenhan.

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree